Signs of immigration roadblocks in Congress

The push for immigration reform on Captiol Hill has been in overdrive thus far in 2013, but last week’s recess serves as a reminder — if one was needed — that the issue is far from settled.

On the face of things, there’s plenty of momentum in Congress: The Senate Gang of Eight hopes to have a bill by mid-March; labor and business groups agreed on basic principles for low-skill workers; and a series of congressional hearings on the topic already have begun in earnest.

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Photos: Senate immigration plan

But momentum can change quickly, and last week saw signs of roadblocks for immigration legislation.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was part of the failed 2007 immigration reform effort and is taking a lead role in the Senate bill this year, faced angry constituents at a series of town halls in his home state.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said he does not support an eventual path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Arizona’s four Republican congressmen sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner voicing opposition to the Senate plan, another indication that eventual legislation will be a tough sell in the GOP-controlled House.

And a draft of President Barack Obama’s own immigration bill leaked to USA Today sparked the ire of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), whose work on the Senate bill will be key to wooing conservative support. Rubio called the president’s plan “dead on arrival” in Congress.

In 2007, immense outside pressure, angry town halls and warring interests killed a comprehensive immigration reform package. McCain got a taste of the outside response last week back home in Arizona.

In a town hall meeting in a Phoenix suburb, McCain faced off with a constituent who said Congress should “cut off [immigrants’] welfare and stuff, and they’ll go back.” He added that McCain had broken a promise to help “build the dang fence.”

Another said the only thing that stops immigrants from crossing the border, “and it’s too damn bad, but is a gun.”

McCain seemed unfazed by the response and called one of the residents a “jerk.”

“People are involved, engaged and lots of feisty questions and a lot of back and forth, and that’s what town hall meetings are supposed to be about, as long as they’re respectful,” McCain told an Arizona ABC affiliate.

But the coverage of the meeting is likely to raise some eyebrows among GOP-ers who are being cautious about endorsing immigration reform just yet, many of whom still freshly remember the backlash at home from 2007.

A former Bush administration official who worked closely on the 2007 effort said last week that the key to getting a bill passed is getting legislation to the floor quickly so senators don’t “lose their nerve.”